Calls, concerns mounted months before death of tot

STOCKTON - The investigation into the death of 2-year-old Tafari Sarai Barris began on April 6, with authorities swarming a home in the Sierra Vista housing development in south Stockton.

Zachary K. Johnson

STOCKTON - The investigation into the death of 2-year-old Tafari Sarai Barris began on April 6, with authorities swarming a home in the Sierra Vista housing development in south Stockton.

But it wasn't the first time authorities had visited the home in the 1600 block of 11th Street. In the previous month, both police and social workers had visited the home - and at least five other residences - to try to find the girl after receiving several reports from neighbors and family that she was being neglected and abused.

The reports came rapidly, but they sometimes pointed in different directions and never to the child herself.

Authorities received the first reports that something might not be right for Tafari as far back as October, according to court records, interviews and documents obtained by The Record through a public records request that chronicle when the toddler first appeared on local authorities' radar and how escalating attempts to investigate mounting reports of abuse were not enough to find her before April 6, when neighbors saw her lifeless body being carried out of the 11th Street home.

Death records show her cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head and face. Her father, 27-year-old Dwight Slay, and his girlfriend, Latima Coleman, 31, are suspected in her death. They face charges including torture and child abuse resulting in death. They have yet to enter a plea in court, and their attorneys did not return calls from The Record for comment.

The documents received from San Joaquin County Child Welfare Services - more commonly known as Child Protective Services - include documents used by the agency as it receives and investigates calls for abuse. It also includes information from law enforcement agencies.

"There were plenty of people who sounded the alarm," said Angela Hayes, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case. "(But) there were other people who knew and kept their mouths shut."

She's said it's hard to say if authorities could have done anything differently that could have prevented Tafari's death. "Police were looking for her. They did go to known addresses, and she wasn't there," Hayes said.

Callers who report abuse don't always provide all of the details investigators need, said John Greco, deputy director of the division of the San Joaquin County Human Services Agency in charge of investigating allegations of abuse and neglect. Confidentiality rules in child abuse cases prevented Greco from going into details on the case.

And even if the information does lead authorities to somebody committing abuse, that doesn't mean the person will be forthcoming with investigators. "Unless you have enough evidence to get a warrant, there's kind of a limit to what you can do," Greco said.

Cases of abuse are generally kept confidential, but state law calls for those documents to be released when a child dies. Documents from Tafari's case were heavily redacted, with every name and address blacked out. Without revealing the redacted information, the county provided additional information to allow The Record to discern between different locations and people.

The documents, along with court records and information from police, show that people were concerned about Tafari's well-being for months, but the information received by CPS or police sometimes fell short or pointed in the wrong direction.

As calls flooded in during March, investigators talked to Coleman but never located Tafari or Slay.

The case history is one of misinformation and withheld information further confusing an already confused situation, said Lindy Turner-Hardin, executive director of the Child Abuse Prevention Council. But beneath it all was the intent to harm a child, then conceal it, she said.

There's "no making sense" of what happened to Tafari, she said.

But it is important in situations like these to look at protocols and procedures to see if there can be improvements. For example, there could be more information-sharing among agencies, she said.

Stockton police review reports for possible referrals to CPS. The same procedure isn't followed for basic call logs.

The Stockton Police Department's Family Crimes sergeant is in almost daily contact with CPS and meets monthly to discuss cases with a team that includes representatives from county law enforcement agencies and other organizations dealing with child abuse and sexual assault. The sergeant has since met with CPS to discuss ways to improve communication, Police Department spokesman Officer Joe Silva said.

It's also important the public know how key their role is in preventing abuse, too, Turner-Hardin said. "The biggest thing for me is when people report to CPS, they should make sure to include as much information as possible."

County officials say knowing names and addresses of both potential victims and those suspected of committing abuse or neglect can help. Officials say callers sometimes get put off when call screeners ask questions.

But those questions don't mean the screeners don't believe the people reporting child abuse; the questions are meant to get as much information about the abuse or neglect being reported, CPS division chief Libby Gaedtke said.

That information is often the only thing investigators have to check out reports of abuse or neglect, she said. "It really all starts with that phone call."

Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or zjohnson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/johnsonblog and on Twitter @zacharykjohnson.